Reviews by SmashPants:

Appearance: poured deep copper-brown in colour, with plenty of fine carbonation visible. An off-white head bursts up before settling to a semi-creamy one-finger head. Looks good!

Aroma: a touch sweeter than I expected from a double-hopped IPA. There are certainly some heavy pine hop aromas, but they are almost dominated by sweet caramel and toffee. Not unpleasant, just a tad awkward.

Taste: again the hops are present, but are in this case equalled by the malts. Where the malts were slightly overpowering on the nose, however, the hop and malts flavours integrate nicely on the palate. Sticky malt flavours with spicy pine hops; the only thing missing for me is the AIPA hop bite, which is a bit lacking in the Hopinator.

Aftertaste: the hop bitterness is again slightly dominated by the malts, but is still complex and sits nicely in the mouth. Lingers nicely also.

Mouth feel: medium in body, I think that a bit more carbonation would really bring those hop flavours through a little bit stronger, which would really rounded out the flavour profile.

Overall: a lovely American Double IPA with a well-rounded palate of hop and malt. The only 2 things that stop me giving it 9.5 or 10 out of 10 are the slightly lacking carbonation, and the truly prohibitive price tag of AU$110 per case of 12 x 500mL (2013).

More User Reviews:

330ml bottle, a Liquor Depot import special, currently only available at their new Wine and Beyond superstore.

This beer pours a hazy medium apricot amber hue, with two fingers of dense, somewhat creamy off-white head, which settles at due pace, leaving some broad, sparse splattered lace patterns around the glass.

It smells of bitter pine needles, a bit of resinous, sappy, sugary caramel malt, a subtle mustiness, and a softly soused orchard fruitiness. The taste is bready caramel malt, a more tamed earthy, leafy pine bitterness, tangy orange and grapefruit fruitiness, and a bit of dank dustiness. Very little in the way of alcohol warming.

The carbonation is level, and just generally supportive, the body a solid medium weight, and fairly smooth, as the usual hop interlopers are present, but mostly inert. It finishes off-dry, and quite muddled, the bitterness of the lingering hops barely standing apart from the flat bready malt.

A so-so DIPA, lots going on, and lots of it right, but there's an overall restraint to things, one that I find underwhelming in something with such a heady moniker. Worth a try, but maybe not at the existent dear exclusive/import/stingy allocation price.

Very dark for an IPA/IIPA. Reasonable off white head which fades to a sparse layer. A little bit o' lacing.

Sweet caramel malt, some grapefruity/piny hops. Not huge from either.

Firstly, this is, for my tastes, a poorly balanced IIPA if we are going to call it that. It is too malty, and not hoppy enough. To be fair, I am tasting this just after a jamieson beast which I really love. Either way, that been claims to be an IPA, not an IIPA, and is more powerful in its hop presence, and, in reality probably more like an IIPA than this. That being said, I kinda like it. The grapefruit and pine hop notes are there, as well as the sweet maltyness. A bit herbal at the end too. Finishes bitter, but mildly so for the style.

Carbonated moderately, and feels pretty good in the mouth. Doesnt make me want to go back for more, so im marking the drinkability only ok.

Garnet pour with a small head that fades to a thin clinging layer.Intensely fruity, with passionfruit, oranges, pineapple and green apples. Some underlying toffee malt and woody honey.Flavour is dominated by rich caramel malt and followed by a long-lasting bittersweet finish. Some of the fruit transfers through. Also some green grassy hops in the background. Low on bitterness for the style.Thick and creamy mouthfeel, with spot-on light, prickly carbonation.

Revisiting this for no particular reason. Well, two half reasons really. #1 found a six week old bottle and wanted to try a fresh example. #2 got a bottle of legit import torpedo for 4th of July and doing a bit of side by side.

Appearance is unchanged. Clear copper, medium carbonation and a thin white head.Average aroma for the style. Quite nice pine and floral but you really have to sniff it out.Nice bitter hit but a bit too heavy on residual sweetness. Would be so much easier to drink if it cut back the sweetness. Good effort but doesn't quite hit the mark. Feels like the balance is just not quite right. Meaning it is trying to be balanced when they should just focus on the hops. Doesn't need to be super bitter but can load up on the flavor and aroma. (and ease up on the crystal malt!)

---previous review from 2009 ---surprisingly dark for an ipa. clear and copper/brown in color. very low carbonation and not much head to speak of. not much of a start.

nice hoppy aroma. mainly pine. the label says "dense". it may have been and faded, but its still ok. a bit of malt sweetness comes through as well.

too much sweetness in the taste. certainly is bitter. sharp and biting as it should be. i would gladly trade off the crystal malt sweetness for some hop flavor though. finish is all hop bitterness.

mouthfeel seems a bit heavy and slick.

way too much crystal malt here. i dont know why brewers try to balance an ipa. it actually hurts the taste and drinkability i think. plenty of hops here for sure, but trying to peel through all the malt gets a bit tiring (and it masks the hop flavor).

Hardly a head there at all. Very dark copper/red. Interesting enough nose there of toffee and burnt orange with a little pine/citrus lift. Surprisingly smooth on the palate with a little kick at the end to remind you wha you're drinking. The malt is quite heavy but not necessarily in a bad way. Although this isn't too old it isn't the freshest so some of the hops seem to have faded a little. Can't be helped. Fairly low carbonation. Overall pretty good. Not many DIPAs around here so happy to get in to one of these again.

A-- Poured a very dark reddish brown color, tints of red on the sides.t I think needs to be a bit more of a lighter color. Could pass for an ESB easily. Half finger of a light brown head that had had nice retention. No real lacing on the glass.

S-- Hops, malt, chocolate and carmel. A little bit weaker than USA DIPA's but the smell is correct. Does not have the "uumph" that a DIPA needs. Pine and citrus are there but again muted in a lot of ways.

T-- Pretty aggressive hop attack in the first sip but missing the malt also. Pine, citrus and carmel are also there but a lot more about the hop flavor.

M-- Hop feel sticks around for a while. Pretty creamy and spot on carbonation. Lacks the malt punch that DIPA's have though. Far more hop central I think.

D-- Well hidden ABV and very drinkable. Too bad it's hard to find in Sydney. Only real issue is it is somewhat muted. I mean not as big, or as balanced. as say the Great Divide Hercules or Pliney is. Worth buying more of and worth looking for. If this were bigger, as in a bigger ABV it could be quite dangerous in a very good way. I guess in a way very unbalanced. I got a lot more hops and less malt. Maybe a fresher batch than others who have reviewed. Seems to be that one way or another the beer is unbalanced in one extreme or another.

A - Creamy tan head, had to work hard to get it on the pour but it is fluffy and sticking to side of the glass. The body is probably darker than the style should be but its still appealling. A little hazy but only a touch.

S - Toffee/caramel/golden syrup flavours come up first. A bit of the hop bitterness too, no massive floral/citrus aroma from the hops.

T- Similar to the aroma, the flavour has more of the pronounced malt flavours; caramel and golden syrup. Then at the end a sticky hop bitterness comes through. No real aroma hops coming to the palate. This beer maybe a bit old but I'd expect something in terms of hop aroma. It finishes with a biscuity flavour at the end.

M - The feel is quite light for all the malt and alcohol in there. Fairly balanced when it comes to mouthfeel. No major stickiness or resininess.

D - For 7% alcohol, I can't find it. For an IPA its very drinkable, if it were easier to find and a bit cheaper, I'd like to enjoy this beer over and over again.

Light caramel in colour, with a small head that falls away quickly. Very low carbonation.

Sticky and hop driven aromas of pine and tropical fruits such as pineapple. Some pleasant malt aromas in there but this one is all about the hops. To be honest it actually feels like it is a little subdued for the style. Very nice, but a lot of searching needs to be done.

Some strong malt flavours initially dominate the palate but they are easily swept away with tight spicy hop flavours. Some fruiter hop flavours also apparent. Not overly bitter and like the aroma feel somewhat underdone for the style.

Creamy texture and the low carbonation help balance out the beer.

A good drink, but seems a little "crowd friendly" for a DIPA. Worth seeking out nonetheless.

Pours a rich earthy red, the colour of scorched earth. Head is nice when poured, tan colour and creamy with decent sticky lace. Looks quite English; good body to it.

Smells very caramelly with English toffee and an odd note of sherbet. Rosewater that's a bit too sweet as well, and overall smells a bit muddy, with hops coming across quite dank in spite of their floral, tangy aroma. Can't say I'm huge on this.

Taste is also malty, with burnt toffee, rich earth and salted caramel upfront. Gets dank and resinous hop character midway for a slight mouldy note, touch of lemon pith and astringent pepper on the back. Needs way more lift, this is a heavy and murky palate, with only one flavour note. Needs more cut 'n' contrast.

Bit full in the mouth, but ultimately slick. Alpha acids pull the mouth back a bit, still a bit heavy, but not bad stylistically.

Not a huge fan of this; quite heavy and full-on, and would like something there to cut through more.

Pours a very deep red-brown colour. Extremely dark for an IPA (the P still stands for "pale", guys), with a really thick body and a full head of whitish to cream coloured foam. Lacing is excellent, and the heaviness in the body is very impressive. The colour is way too dark to my mind, but otherwise, it looks like a very good brew.

Big hoppy notes on the nose, but they tend very much towards the English/ESB style of heavy hoppiness. Notes of pine resin and sawdust, with nothing floral or fruity in it at all. Some grassy notes as well, and even something dark and malty giving it some fullness. Not bad, and very flavorsome, but missing the best components of a double IPA to my mind.

Smooth malt on the palate, but with a relatively low level of hops bitterness. Just a slight clinging hop oil on the back. The rest is full malt, and a really quite unexpected toasted grain character. The colour isn't the only thing which suggests that this is too dark for the style. Very flat and rich palate, with very little carbonation. It really lacks effervescence to me.

This beer is really missing something. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad beer, but the darkness is really way too prevalent, and it seems to miss the true hop characters of the best examples. I really wanted something better from Holgate - this is too far off-style.

Smell - Lots of grapefruit and kiwi fruit, though not quite up there with Feral Hop Hog.

Taste - Sorry, but this definitely tastes like a regular IPA, not a DIPA. The hoppy flavour is quite underwhelming for a beer that supposedly has an "outrageous" hopping schedule. The taste is not fruity enough, and there is a little too much sweetness created by the malt (though this would be excusable in a more fruity beer). Still, this would appeal to more people than pretty much any other DIPA.